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The Northern Health Authority has lost its appeal of an arbitration award to a pediatrician fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination in 2021, despite the fact he was solely working over the phone.
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The B.C. Court of Appeal ruling by Justice Bruce Butler dismissed the authority’s appeal of the breach of contract award of more than $388,000 to Jannie du Plessis.
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The Terrace pediatrician, 73, had coronary bypass surgery after suffering a heart attack in July 2019. The authority then had him working on one-year contracts but not providing on-call or hospital services.
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“The NHA was satisfied with Dr. du Plessis’s level and mode of service delivery,” Butler wrote.
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When the province declared the pandemic emergency on March 16, 2020, du Plessis closed his clinic and moved to telephone consultations from his house.
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When the provincial health officer eventually ordered medical staff to be immunized against COVID-19, the authority decided it applied to everyone regardless of how services were delivered.
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The authority’s vice-president of medicine, Dr. Ronald Chapman, told du Plessis that his contract would be terminated Nov. 14, 2021, if he did not get vaccinated. Du Plessis, an independent contractor whose agreement contained an arbitration clause, was terminated three days later.
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He contested the firing. In September 2023, an arbitrator ruled the authority breached the contract, and later awarded compensation for damages and costs totalling $388,528.13.
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The Appeal Court decision was unanimous, agreed to by Justices Andrew Mayer and Paul Riley.
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Bob Mackin is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with The Prince George Citizen. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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